When the 2012 CMA Music Festival kicks off its four-day event on Thursday, June 7, in Nashville, Tenn., HGTV joins in the excitement of the ultimate Country Music fan experience by opening the doors to its star-studded venue, The Lodge. Along with GAC, DIY Network and Travel Channel, The Lodge offers fans a unique interactive experience, live musical performances and autograph signings with popular Country Music stars and lifestyle television personalities.

“The CMA Music Festival audience is as passionate about Country Music as HGTV’s audience is about their homes, making The Lodge an excellent way to engage our fans,” said Denise Conroy-Galley, HGTV’s senior vice president, marketing and creative services. “This event provides our viewers with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to connect with both our talent and some of today’s popular country artists.”

CMA Music Festival attendees and fans will have the opportunity to attend various autograph signings and acoustic performances from a host of Country artists and HGTV and DIY Network stars at The Lodge in Fan Alley. Fans can enter for the chance to attend by visiting GACTV.com/CMAFest and looking for the banner advertisement for the official sweeps entry page and rules beginning at approximately 5 p.m. ET on May 23rd. Entries must be received by noon ET on May 30th, 2012. The giveaway is open to legal residents of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, 18 years of age or older. Fans will also have an opportunity to win access to these signings and performances at the event and details about these opportunities will be posted on the GAC Facebook or Twitter page during CMA Music Festival week. No purchase necessary to enter or win.

Fans unable to visit The Lodge can keep tabs on all of the festivities through several interactive elements at GACTV.com/CMAFest. They can also follow event activities on Twitter at #TheLodge and on HGTV’s Facebook page with a special CMA Music Festival tab, which will feature daily posts of behind-the-scenes content, a rolling Twitter feed, time-lapsed videos that chronicle each White Room Challenge design from start-to-finish, and trivia questions about HGTV, DIY Network, GAC and Travel Channel.

Schedule of Events at The Lodge by HGTV (All times CT.):
Thursday, June 7:
11:00 AM Lauren Alaina & Rodney Atkins (signing)
1:00 PM Thompson Square & Jake Owen (signing)
2:00 PM: The Vanilla Ice Project’s Vanilla Ice (signing)
3:00 PM: Josh Thompson (performance and signing)
4:00 PM: HGTV Design Star’s “Sparkle” Josh Johnson (signing)
5:00 PM: Dierks Bentley (performance and signing)
7:30-9:30 PM: Gary Allan (private, invite-only event)
Friday, June 8:
9:00 AM: Going Yard’s Chris Lambton (signing)
11:00 AM: Little Big Town (signing)
1:00 PM: Easton Corbin (signing)
3:00 PM: Kellie Pickler (signing)
4:00 PM: Room Crashers’ Todd Davis (signing)
5:00 PM: Casey James (performance and signing)
Saturday, June 9:
9:00 AM: Property Brothers’ Drew and Jonathan Scott (signing)
11:00 AM: Bucky Covington (performance and signing)
1:00 PM: Love & Theft (performance and signing)
3:00 PM: Kip Moore (performance and signing)
4:00 PM: Secrets from a Stylists’ Emily Henderson (signing)
5:00 PM: Kix Brooks (performance)
Sunday, June 10:
11:00 AM: Sarah Darling (performance and signing)
12:00 noon: Katie Armiger (performance)
1:00 PM: Scotty McCreery (signing)
2:00 PM: The Antonio Treatment’s Antonio Ballatore (signing)
3:00 PM: Luke Bryan (signing)

Connect with CMA online at CMAFest.com, Facebook.com/CMA and Twitter.com/CountryMusic.

Got some country music gossip and don’t wanna be a tattle tale? Email me, Tawny Tucker, Tawny@countrymusictattletale.com Don’t miss a country music beat! Sign up to receive free email updates or subscribe to CMTT via RSS today!